EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Chef Tori Chapman has created a first in Evansville — a totally vegan mobile food company and catering service that can provide you with anything from hot “wings” for your Superbowl party to a full-on four-course meal for a reception or private celebration.

It’s called Vegan Eats and Treats, and you might have noticed Chapman and her partner Ryan Herring at the Evansville Taco Festival recently serving vegan “chorizo” tacos and Vietnamese-inspired pho tacos or this spring at the Evansville Food Truck Festival with their loaded nachos and garlic butter spinach pizza.

“I’ve cooked since I was 10, and as I grew older I developed a passion for finding and trying new recipes,” said Chapman. “I became a vegan three years ago, and it changed my life in a very positive way. It made food more fun because with veganism you have to be more creative.”

Chapman began a blog called Torivegblog.blogspot.com detailing her adventures with vegan cooking. The response was so great she began participating in food festivals this past April.

“I wanted to share the recipes I was making with everyone so people could see that vegan food is cool and satisfying, not just like salad,” she said.

Herring also thought it was important to bring vegan food into the general public eye.

“We want to change the stigma that is associated with veganism,” he said. “There is a holistic health aspect of it, and there are also the concerns with animal treatment and the way food is processed and mass-produced.”

The food

Chapman often makes the kinds of food she grew up with substituting vegan ingredients for animal-based ones. Textured soy vegetable protein replaces ground beef or sausage, and vegan cheese, butter and mayo are very tasty. She uses seitan or “wheat meat,” a firm, chewy protein made from wheat gluten; or Beyond brand vegan "meat" made with pea and soy proteins, when she needs larger pieces of protein.

Vegan donuts with no eggs or diary, soft, sweet and yummy, from Vegan Eats and Treats.(Photo: Picture Courtesy Tori Chapman)

“My fried ‘chicken’ is everybody’s favorite thing,” she said. “I use my mom’s recipe for the seasoned flour and substitute seitan for the chicken meat. Baked seitan 'boneless wings' are also very popular. We have a soup menu coming up a with a vegan version of chicken and dumplings that is made with hand-rolled dumplings.”

One of Chapman and Herring’s favorite items is their "cheese" sauce. This is used on nachos, in broccoli cheddar soup and anywhere a savory orange cheese is just the thing. It is made with a pureed base of potatoes and carrots with secret spices for a big, rich and savory flavor.

“The first time she presented the idea of vegan cheese made with carrots and potatoes I was skeptical,” said Herring, “but I tried it, and it is really, really good. When we did nachos at the food truck fest we had two blenders going with the cheese sauce for an hour and a half, and it was messy but it was so good.”

Chapman and Herring don’t box themselves in when it comes to offerings or menus. Chapman loves nothing more than coming up with new recipes, and she relishes making custom meals for special occasions.

They create box lunches for local businesses, do the catering for Leadership Evansville and have done a six-course tasting menu of elevated vegan dishes including “crab” cakes made with artichokes, a seitan “steak” and a layered jar dessert with roasted pumpkin and cashew cream, in addition to food festivals and orders of donuts and party food during football season.

For more information

If you’d like to see more of Chapman’s cooking or inquire about catering services, visit Vegan Eats and Treats’ Facebook page.